


Us Before Him

by Starshine_432



Series: Bradley's Story [1]
Category: Milo Murphy's Law
Genre: A little physical abuse, Child Abuse, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Gen, Only if you squint - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-27
Updated: 2018-01-21
Packaged: 2018-12-07 12:11:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11623266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starshine_432/pseuds/Starshine_432
Summary: A story of a sudden headcanon theory I made up in my mind concerning Bradley and Melissa. Why is he always trying to win her over? Why does he despise Milo? Why does he want and need attention so much? All answers will be answered in here. (note: rated T to be safe. Major angst going on.) Based off an MML comic strip.





	1. Not Goodbye but see you soon

**Author's Note:**

> Just some Bradlissa fluff in this chapter guys.

3 years ago...

"Hey Bradley!" He heard the familiar preppy voice of his best friend since elementary school, Melissa Chase, call out from behind him a few kilometers away.

The footsteps slowed to a leisurely pace as she neared and sat beside him on the park bench he was sitting on. He shifted to give space for her, raising up his legs to hug them and rest his head on his knees. He turned his face the other direction so that Melissa wouldn't see his expression.

"Hi Mel." He muttered quietly, fighting the urge to keep his tone in check. He couldn't let her know about it. Not yet.

"Brad?" Melissa scooted closer to him, playfully bumping him on the shoulder. "What's up? You don't look so great."

Bradley could hear the concern in her voice and it almost made him feel guilty. He burrowed his face deeper into his knees.

"I'm fine Melissa."

"You sure?" She inched a bit closer, shoulders touching this time.

"Yeah." He released a shaky breath and finally raised his head up. Shutting his eyes tightly and opening them back again to keep in the tears. "It's nothing. Just some wind in my eyes."

"But... there's no wind." Melissa arched a brow at him. A suspicious frown marring her face.

"I meant... the... um. Allergies." He pressed his lips together and averted his gaze to a flying squirrel in the background.

"But you're only allergic to Pistachio's." Melissa said. "Brad. I'm you're best friend. And it is my legal right and obligation to say... you are a really bad liar."

He shifted his gaze back to her, pupils dilating slightly.

"Always have been." She gave him a small smile before her expression turned serious. "But it is also my duty as your best friend to make sure your okay. So please," She put a hand on his raised up knee. "Tell me what's wrong."

Bradley hesitated for a while, holding a mental argument in his head on whether he should actually tell her. Melissa wouldn't drop her gaze though and that's what caused him to spill.

"It's my parents." he sighed.

Melissa grunted in unintelligible annoyance. "What did they do this time?"

"Nothing specifically much." He said, gulping and hoping her reaction wouldn't be as bad as what he imagined in his head. "My parents want to move away from the tri- state area."

"What?!" Melissa glared at him as if he had told her she was the worst at making bets. He flinched at her tone. He knew she would be mad at him, now she probably hates him for what he said.

"You're moving away?!"

Bradley could only stare at her, Melissa wasn't taking this well at all. He knew he should have shut up and put a foot in his mouth. "I- I'm sorry." He said, barely above a whisper. "I knew I shouldn't have said anything."

Melissa's features softened into a serene, sympathetic one.

"Where are you moving to?"

"Swamp city. Other side of Danville." He sighed tiredly. "I tried to talk to my parents..."

"But..."

"But you know them. They wouldn't listen to me, as usual." He looked down again, dropping his feet from the bench. "Sorry I couldn't try harder to stay..."

"Shut up you ding wad." Melissa smirked at him in a joking matter. "Stop apologizing for something you couldn't control." She jumped from the bench and faced him, her usual confident demeanor taking over her. "Besides, when are you leaving? Like the day after tomorrow or something?"

"Uh... next week Monday?" He said, unsure of himself.

"That's great!"

Bradley frowned at her before she hurriedly shook her head, realizing the error in her exclamation. "I didn't mean you leaving is great." She corrected. "I mean, you only have five more days before you go. We have plenty of time to do the most awesome things together before then!"

Bradley thought for a while. Maybe she was right. Maybe he could spend the remainder of his days in the tri- state area having the best time ever instead of sulking and brooding all day on a bench.

"Waddaya say Brad." Melissa offered him her hand. "Ready to have one of the best days of your stay?"

Bradley took her hand and he got up, nodding vehemently and smiling. "Sure am."

"Good." Melissa smirked at him, taking a few steps back. "Race ya to the zoo!" She started to run, yelling something about the loser being the one to buy both of them an ice cream Sundae. Bradley shook his head and took to her heels, silently cursing himself for his short legs.

But at the same time he was glad he was such good friends with Melissa. The only person that gave him the time of day.Their bond was so strong, he was sure of it.

Not even a thousand miles could strain their friendship.

o*o*o*o

It was Monday.

The day for his departure finally came and of course Melissa was there to see him leave, along with her mom and dad, Maria and Richard Chase.

A hired hauler finished loading the remainder of the luggage in to the moving van and his dad was busy making an important call for what Bradley had no business with. His mother was sitting in the car he and his parents were driving in, applying make up for reasons he didn't know. It's not like they were making a pitstop at some fancy shmancy event on their way to Swamp City.

He gave Melissa his presumed home address if she were to ever be looking for him there and she gave him the picture both of them took in the photo booth last week Friday at the amusement park.

In the photo, they were both making silly faces, Melissa was wearing his glasses and gave him bunny ears and stuck her tongue out, while Bradley was glassless, smiling and rolling his eyes at her. The picture was kept in a small silver plastic frame with the encryption 'best friends' at the top.

Bradley felt tears pushing at his eyes. "Melissa... I didn't get you anything."

"No sweat Bradley." Melissa shrugged, a sad smile on her face. A short ten second silence hung around in the air before Bradley heard his dad round up the call.

"I'll miss you Mel." Bradley said, smiling sadly at her.

"I'll miss you more Brad." Melissa said, hugging him tightly and catching him by surprise. "I won't forget to call!"

He could say he was a bit surprised feeling something wet drop on his shoulder. That's when he noticed Melissa was actually crying.

"Melissa... are you... crying?"

"Pfft. No." She got off him quickly and ran a hand over her eyes. "Just allergies is all."

"Suuure." He playfully rolled his eyes, jerking when he heard his dad clear his throat behind him. It was time to go.

"Coming dad." He said. "Bye Melissa-"

"Nope." She cut him short. "Not bye, but see you soon. Okay?"

"Okay." He nodded. "We'll always be best friends right?"

"Always." She nodded as well. "Don't forget me." She put in sadly.

"Likewise Mel." He smiled, hesitating first before going to meet his mom and dad in the car.

The car soon started to drive away. Away from the tri- state area. Away from his home. Away from his memories. Away from everything he'd ever known and loved. Away from the only best friend he'd ever had.

Away from Melissa.


	2. Problems arise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This fic is also up on fanfiction.net.

5 months after that...

Bradley had just finished a Skype call with Melissa, sighing at the little framed picture Melissa had given him months ago that now sat beside his computer.

So far, he hadn't really been able to make any new friends on his block, or at the new school he now attends. Some people said hi, but soon after they'd go back to what they were doing and pretend he wasn't there.

The one person that stuck longer was this kid, Milo Murphy whom people said was a literal walking jinx. He had ignored them and proceeded to befriend Milo anyway as he seemed as lonely as him and thought they could work out as friends.

But then his view changed after an incident happened with a concrete pipe, a herd of llamas, a band of refugee gorillas, and a rocky slide down a bumpy hill accompanied by their almost drowning in a river after they had failed to catch the bus. They ended up missing first two periods that day, and Milo had told him it would work out, but Bradley knew it wouldn't.

And as predicted, his parents were awfully disappointed at him for missing classes. Even if it was only two and he had an excuse for it which the teachers and everyone else understood.

Everyone else apart from his parents.

His dad warned him against missing classes before sending him off to his room without dinner.

Ever since then, he had tried his best to keep his distance from Milo, often giving some excuse to not hang out with him. But sometimes he'd meet him after school to make up for lost time, since Milo was, after all, his only friend. But he had to do it without his parents notice, knowing they would never let him hang with someone who made him miss his classes. Unintentionally or not.

He kept it going for two months, but something told him his gig would soon be up.

MMLMMLMMLMML.

"Hi Bradley!" Milo waved to Bradley, sitting down beside him.

Bradley returned the wave before reverting back to staring out the window.

"So did you hear? We're getting a new gym hall since our last one got demolished by that meteor."Milo informed him. "It was a huge 16 foot rock and glowed green whenever someone touched it. I'm guessing it was radioactive."

"That's nice." He muttered, listening half heartedly at his story.

"It was." He grinned, flash backing to the incident. "And then it started emitting purple light after an hour. Then before we knew it, it shifted and a large piece of it fell and landed right on my head."

"Mmhm."

"I stayed in the hospital for a week 'cause the doctor said I fractured my skull and was in a five day coma."

"You don't say." He slouched in his seat and proceeded to bring out his phone to look if any texts had come from Melissa.

No new ones since last four weeks.

He was beginning to think she was getting tired of him so soon. And not just because she didn't reply to his texts anymore. Last week, she cut their once in a week Skype call short because she said she was busy. When he asked her with what, she said just homework and cut the call before he could say anything else. Same thing happened last night.

Milo seemed to be oblivious to Bradley's current lack of attention and was already starting up another story when the bus came to a stop in front of the school. Milo was saying something about vultures and orangutans as they came down the bus when his phone rang.

He did a double take upon checking caller ID.

"Uh... sorry Milo." He cut Milo's story short. "I have to take this."

And with that, he hurriedly ran off to the boys locker room, not bothering to check if anyone was there. He answered the call and slouched against the locker.

"Heyyy Bradster!" The caller on the other side said enthusiastically.

"Braydon?!" Bradley almost yelled into the phone, he couldn't believe it. After all these years... "W-why are you calling me at school?"

"Really Brad? Thought after five years without seeing each other you'd actually be happy to hear your own brother again."

"It's just been so long." He whispered into the phone. "So why are you calling? Are you... are you coming back?"

"Back to that hellhole that's supposed to be my home? Back to having to be a disappointment and an unwanted waste of time and worth? Of course I'm not."

Bradley kept silent for some time, not sure how to reply. "You're not a-"

"Dad said it with his own mouth. And you should know. You were there."

Bradley rolled his eyes, he hated remembering that time. It was the last time he saw his brother before he went away and never called back for five years. Until now. "So why are you calling then?"

"I'm calling because...I thought it would be alright if we hung out." He pretended not to notice the tense hesitation in Braydon's sentence.

"Uh... hang out? together?"

"Yes." He could hear the nod in his voice. "Like, right now."

"Right now?" He checked the time on his watch. "I start classes in 2 minutes. How about during lunch for a short while?"

A ten second silence stretched until Braydon decided to answer. "Yeah. But mom and dad shouldn't know. Jefferson County right?"

"Yes. And don't worry, mom and dad won't know." He nodded and cut the call, leaning against the lockers and trying to take in everything that had just happened.

His brother was back and in town. He wasn't coming back home, but... At least he was okay. He couldn't wait to tell Melissa tonight. That's if she wouldn't be too busy with homework again.

"Who were you talking to?"

He nearly jumped out of his shoes when he heard a voice that seemed to belong to Milo right behind him. He turned around, glaring. "Where you listening in on my conversation?"

"What? No." Milo said. "I only came here to tell you classes had started 5 minutes ago. Oh and that you should hurry up 'cause the teacher said she was gonna call your parents."

"Five minutes?!" Bradley's pupils dilated as he stared at Milo in shock, then at his watch. "I thought I set this thing to the right time yesterday." He muttered, mentally smacking himself on the head to see that the watch was not even ticking. "Alright I'm coming." Bradley told him and kept his phone back into his pocket.

But as he and Milo left, neither of them knew there was someone spying on them from an unseen corner of the locker room.

MMLMMLMMLMML.

Lunch time came...

Bradley watched as a crowd of people gathered around Milo after he had come back from one of his adventures. Milo had been carried off by a herd of run away llamas before they had even reached class.

Bradley had been unaffected because of the distance he kept between both of them in the hallway. He was telling him about the time the pool accidentally drained but was unable to finish his story when the llamas stomped through the door, carrying Milo with him.

Bradley sat alone on a bench watching Milo telling them about the llamas dropping him off in a moving stream under the bridge while people listened intently at him. They were interested in him. Murphy's law or not. He shrugged then leaned forward with his elbows on his knees.

More people were joining the crowd now, and he lost sight of him and couldn't hear what he was saying anymore. He felt a little tingling in his stomach and his brows furrowing unconsciously and then brushed of the slight feeling of jealousy and turned back to his thoughts, waiting for Braydon to come as promised.

"Uh... Bradley Nicholson?" Someone he didn't recognize said his name. It was a blonde boy who wore a black turtleneck and Capri pants. He hadn't seen him before, so he assumed he was a new student.

"That's me." He arched his brows.

"There's a car waiting for you in front of the school. He said he's been waiting for you minutes ago."

Bradley's spirits escalated soon. Braydon was here.

"Alright, thanks." He quickly got up and ran to the front of the school to meet up with where Braydon was meant to be.

Upon getting there, a familiar black Sedan came into view, the same one that belonged to his dad. Maybe Braydon bought the same model.

He got closer at the same time the window of the drivers seat wined down, letting him get a good look at the driver

It was not his brother

"D-dad?"

"Get in the car." his dad grunted in a way he would never speak in public.

"But-"

"I said Get. In. The car." He spoke sterner this time, actually turning his head just to glare at him. "And don't make it worse by not responding to me."

"Yes dad. Sorry dad." Bradley said quickly and entered the backseat of the car. The car drove off and the last thing he saw was a blonde boy in a black turtle neck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. That was some ending which really took me lots of time to figure out btw. So anyway, I'd like it if you leave a review on this chapter if you can. Tell me what you think.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where Bradley's dad is a dick and we finally get to meet his brother.

Milo hadn't realized Bradley had even gone until someone named Braydon who claimed to be his brother, asked of him. He noticed the striking resemblance between the two, that they almost looked alike, except Braydon didn't wear glasses and had a completely different hairstyle. He was basically a twenty one year old version of Bradley.

"So have you seen him?" He asked Milo for the fifth time while he was still trying to make sense of what was happening. How come he had never told him about his brother? And why is said brother looking so worried like he already knows what happened?

Milo shook his head finally and the boy sighed and looked up, proceeding to bring out his phone to make a quick call. "So you're Brad's only friend right?" He asked Milo, scrolling through his phone.

"Yes..." Milo replied, still wondering why he looked so worried.

"So were you with him when he... I dunno, went anywhere?"

"Actually, no... but I think I might remember him talking to someone earlier." He said, a memory coming to mind.

"Who was he talking to?" Braydon asked, and then cursed silently after his phone went to voicemail. He tried the number again.

"I don't think I've seen him before, but I remember he was blonde, wore a turtleneck sweater and Capri pants." Milo counted his fingers as he listed the qualities of the boy he had seen, just as he saw said boy walking past him at a far distance away. "Hey, I think that's him!" He pointed in front of him past Braydon's shoulders to the boy as his phone went to yet another voicemail.

Braydon didn't even wait for Milo as he tore to the boy, startling him and making him almost drop the soda he had just opened.

"Where's Bradley?" He growled at the boy like he wanted to throttle him. Almost like he was the one responsible for his brothers sudden disappearance. But Milo had a gut feeling that he was.

"W-who's Bradley?" The boy stammered nervously, his soda shaking in his hands.

"Don't play dumb with me." He glared at him."Bradley Nicholson, the boy you were talking to earlier."

"Oh... oh that Bradley." The boy's mouth widened in a nervous, innocent grin. "I don't know where he is."

"What do you mean you don't know where he is?!" Braydon raised his voice and Milo flinched, as well as the boy, who now looked like he was trembling.

"I-I mean I'm not sure." The blonde boy trembled beneath Braydon's glare. "I was just following orders."

"Who's orders?"

"Y-you're... d-dad."

"What?!!"

"Hey, I think we all need to calm down..." Milo said, trying to prevent a possible black eye incident on the part of the blonde boy.

"Calm down?" Braydon shifted his glare to him now. "How can I calm down when-"

He stopped to look at his phone that had now chimed with a short ringtone Milo had guessed belonged to his messages.

"'Please come home Brade.'" Braydon read aloud, and Milo immediately knew it was from Bradley. "'Dad has me grounded in my room and won't let me out. Mind coming to rescue me?'"

Milo had wanted to ask why Bradley was grounded but before he could, Braydon had already tore to the red Sedan that was his car and he and the boy watched as he zoomed off.

MMLMMLMML

Bradley waited nervously in his dad's den as he was told to do when he and his dad had gotten home from school. He had wanted to tell him he would be late for classes but was interrupted and ordered to wait for him.

"But dad I can't, I-" He had tried to reason with him earlier about how he would miss his Math class. But his dad wasn't hearing any of what he had to say.

"I was not asking son, I was ordering." He had stood over him in an intimidating way. "And hand over your phone."

He had wanted to argue with his dad on that order for fear of what he might do with it. But under the fearful glare of his dad, he decided to just do what he was told or else the consequences would come if otherwise.

So now as he sat on the chair that was right in front of his dad's empty seat, he was wondering what he was in fact doing with his phone. But he knew his question was about to be answered as soon as his dad came into his den, shutting the door behind him quietly.

"He's coming." His dad said as he sat down.

"Who's coming?" He straightened his posture to portray false confidence, but something about his father's malicious expression made him not want to know the answer.

His father dropped Bradley's phone on the table in front of him. He reached for it, wanting to check out any recent activities on his phone to find out what his dad had done with it, but he was stopped before he could.

"I didn't say you could have it yet."

"Oh." Bradley stopped halfway from touching and withdrew his hand back to himself. And at just that moment the phone rang, and he looked to check caller ID and saw that it was Braydon.

Bradley looked at his phone, then his dad, then his phone, debating on whether he should pick the call with or without his consent.

"Push the answer button." His father ordered and he did just that, but without picking it up. But as he was about to speak, his dad held up a finger to his mouth as a sign that he should shut up.

"Hey Brad. I'm climbing in through your room window right now to get you. So stay put okay?"

"What?" But the call had already ended and he was as confused as ever as to what his brother was talking about. He looked right at his dad with questioning eyes. "What was he saying?"

But father seemed not to be listening and instead, just gazed at him for a full blown 3 seconds. "Did you hear that? Go over to my sons room and get him."

"Yes sir." Two unrecognizable male voices belonging to adults said in unison behind him and Bradley was startled because he had no idea that they were there in the first place.

The two men ran out of the den and he waited, heart beating for what was about to happen next. He couldn't help but keep his eyes fixed on the door as he then heard the sound of struggling and the sound of someone familiar cursing at them.

His father stood up just as the door to the den opened up to reveal the two men holding a struggling Braydon by his arms and partially restricting his movements. "Let go of me you wretched b-"

"Hello son." His dad said, and Braydon immediately stopped struggling to stare at the man. "Dad?"

"Let him go. But if he comes near me and Bradley restrain him." His dad instructed the men and they begrudgingly did, but still kept their guards up in case he did anything.

Bradley stood up from his chair to try to meet him but was held back by the strong hold of his dad's hand on his arm.

"Brade, what's going on?" Bradley looked at his brother with a questioning gaze, he didn't know what was happening and it was eating at his insides.

"Brad, I-"

"As you can see son." His dad held Bradley closer. "Your dear brother broke a little deal we made earlier."

"What deal? Braydon, what is he talking about?"

Braydon glared at his dad, who was also waiting for him to explain himself as well. After he had glared at him enough, he turned sympathetic eyes to Bradley and sighed.

"Brad, when I left five years ago... I... I did it so I could leave the over bearing pressure mom and dad was putting on me so they could focus more on you." He explained, breathing slowly like it took all the labour in the world to tell him the tale. "But then, after I had left, I knew I made a big mistake leaving you and I didn't really want to leave you alone, so I came back. But..."

"But what?"

"But after I left, I couldn't come back. Because when I left earlier, I told mom and dad I would never come back and they agreed at first. So to make sure I kept to my word, they made me sign some sort of contract that ensured I'd never come back again, or. . ." He breathed in fully, the anger for his parents burning. "Because if I did, I would get a sent out of the country."

"What?!"

"The contract had indirectly stated that I should stay away from you, that if I didn't, they'd send me off to a military school in Kansas. And then, they cut off all communications between me and you." He chuckled bitterly. "Guess I should've read the damn papers first.'

Bradley didn't think his face could drop any lower. "W-why. . .? I mean, why in Kansas? That's a million miles away."

"Mom and dad didn't want me influencing you badly. They didn't want you to turn out a disappointment like me."

"I've already told you you're not a disappointment." Bradley said, trying to pry his arm away from his fathers hold. "So... here's my question. Why did you choose to come back for me now after so long?"

"Because..." He looked at his dad who's face was as indifferent as ever, then back at him. "Because I thought if I'd come get you, we could both not have to face mom and dad anymore. And then, I won't have to stay away from you. Those last 5 years were the best of my life, but I couldn't stop forgetting about you Brad." Braydon looked like he was trying not to cry, the situation he was in was mighty real and he was not getting out of it soon. He continued. "So I bought two tickets for us to board the first plane outta here. It was supposed to leave in 10 minutes, but I figured we'd already be at the airport by now."

"And that worked out pretty well didn't it?" His father rolled his eyes, proceeding to skip right to the point of the ordeal. "Well, now that you've broken the contract, the deal is off." He snapped his fingers and the men went back to holding Braydon. "Take him away boys."

"Nooo!" Bradley tried to reach out as Braydon was taken away by the men, but he got pulled back by his father who tightened his hold on him and was giving him a stern look.

"And you. What have I said about associating with that waste of time?!" His dad shook him and Bradley finally got out of his grip and fearlessly glared at his dad.

"How could you say that about your own son? And take him away to military school? how could you do that?!"

"Surprise son, I just did." His father kept his hands behind his back but didn't leave and only glowered over him.

"That's not fair!" He stomped his foot like a child. "You're always doing this, first you took my brother away, then you took me away from Melissa and now-"

Whatever came next was all so sudden, as he found his head snapping to his left and his cheek stinging so badly. The next slap on his other cheek made his head turn the other way and he had to steady himself not to fall over.

"You better watch your tone young man." His dad said, grabbing his arm and jerking him out of his den to his room upstairs. He knew he was in trouble now because of the way he spoke to his father, not that he didn't know there were going to be consequences for his actions. But he just needed to take his anger out on his dad.

But his dad had hurt him and his brother by separating them again, and even though he knew he deserved to be hit for overreacting, he couldn't help but wonder why.

Why had he done it? It's not like his brother was the best. He usually got B's and C's which was unacceptable to his parents, most especially his dad who wanted only perfection that anything below an A meant consequences. But then, no one's perfect. Getting B's and C's doesn't mean it's the end of the world, but an opportunity to do better next time. At least that's what Melissa always said.

And speaking of his dear friend Melissa, how is he ever going to reach out to her without his phone nearby?

Maybe he'd escape through the window, he had seen his brother do it so many times it's basically imprinted in his brain. Then maybe after that he'd look for Milo's house and borrow his phone and...

But his thoughts were cut short as soon as he was jerked forward forcefully, almost making him fall on his face as he was forced into his room.

"You're staying in your room until you learn respect." His dad said angrily and coolly, his fists clenched. "And until I make sure that wretched brother of yours doesn't try to reach you again, you're grounded!"

And with that being said, his father shut the door and locked it from outside, leaving Bradley alone in his room with nothing but his thoughts about his nearest future.

MMLMMLMML

The next two weeks of Bradley's life was quite uneventful, not that he really expected anything exciting to occur at the time.

The first night when he tried to escape through the windows, it wasn't quite as easy as he thought it was, no matter how simple Braydon had made it look. It was supposed to be a smooth escape, use a bunch of his clothes to make a sturdy rope, tie one end to the door handle on his closet door and then carefully let the rest of the rope fly out the window. That part was easy. It was the coming down part that made him almost reconsider, but he had already gotten so far and he wasn't ready to give up yet.

When Bradley had woken up the next morning, he found himself on the floor, his back felt uncomfortable being greeted by the wet morning dew from the grass and his head ached. He was wondering how he got there when he finally looked up to see his parents annoyed, angered faces and the worried expression on Miss. Loretta (the sweet 34 year old maid that had been taking care of him since he was born), he also saw the rope made of clothes still hanging out his bedroom window and that's when it hit him.

He had been caught and his mission had failed.

He ended up staying in his fathers den all day, only greeted by home work and lesson notes from school every once in a while and then he would be given his food there. Never was he allowed to leave his dad's den, not that he could. It was the only room that had burglar bars on the windows and his dad made sure to lock the door from the outside whenever he left. How long he left didn't matter, even though he was thirsty because he had a mini fridge in the place.

At night, Bradley would be watched before he went to sleep so that he couldn't try his little previous stunt anymore. And he was of course, also without his phone.

All these went on for two weeks until the first Wednesday of the third week.

As he was in his father's den early that morning, his dad had strolled into the place, clearing his throat to divert Bradley's attention from the piece of paper he was playing with, to him. He looked up immediately, waiting for his father to speak.

"Son," He started, after getting his attention. "I would like to inform you that you will be free to go to school tomorrow and you may have your phone back. But any sign of rebellion from you today will absolutely eradicate that. Understand?"

"Yes dad. Thank you." He quickly said as his dad said nothing more, and left.

Bradley couldn't almost believe it, but yet it was true. He felt elated like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders and he couldn't wait to get back to school. Though he might only meet Milo there as his only friend, or something like that. Were they even friends? Or he was just someone to keep him company. He shook his head mentally. No, he couldn't think about that now, he was leaving his seclusion and he was finally free!

Afterwards, he could only fill his mind with all the things he wanted to tell Melissa that had happened. He couldn't wait for the jokes they would tell each other, and whatever else they missed out on each other. That night he had tried to call her but her line had been busy, so he decided he would talk to her the next day.

Bradley woke up the next morning as happy as a free bird, ready to finally leave the tense seclusion of his home and be somewhere else at the time of the day.

His bus ride to school wasn't as chatty as it usually was because sometimes when he's not being engaged in some Murphy's law activity, Milo would be talking to Bradley about his latest adventure or an episode of that ridiculous show he liked to watch. What was it called again. . .? Dr. Clone, or something like that.

But now, Milo wasn't there, which made him a bit disappointed. He didn't like being alone.

So he occupied his mind with other things, like, if there were going to be any new things added to the school since he wasn't there for sometime. He had only learned that the school was planning on buying a yatch for some reason but they haven't decided when yet. So as he got down when the bus had stopped he noticed a herd of moose breaking and jumping out of his classroom windows and out onto the street and that's when he knew Milo had come.

He was pulled in with the crowd of students running out of the bus and towards the classroom to see what Murphy's law had gotten the boy into and to be honest he was a bit curious himself.

So as the crowd around him dissipated to gather around Milo, he was left in the back unable to see him. So he just decided to wait in his seat and try to listen to Milo, who hadn't even noticed he had come back. But it's not like he made an effort to show himself either. But he failed to concentrate on the story as he realized no one had even noticed he had come back. Had they even noticed he had gone?

He was brought out of his soon-to-be mental depression once he heard the somewhat familiar, perky voice of a certain ginger haired girl. But he brushed it off as memories trying to take over his reality.

"-It was awesome!" The girl said again, and he had to look back just to see her tanned arm shoot up in glee. And it was like in slow motion that her face finally came into view and their eyes met, his widening in surprise.

"Melissa?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, reunion. Next chap will be some fluff between the two, then a lil jealousy from our little saltshaker.


	4. The Other Side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Melissa's short side of the story.

When Melissa learned that living without someone to call your best friend, someone to walk you to school when you missed the bus, cover for you whenever you ran into trouble because they knew you would, it was hard.

And she was sure it was harder on him.

Miles apart and away from each other wasn't so healthy on her mental well being. But at the same time, she knew that she couldn't let herself fall into the undying depths of depression. Her mother always told her she couldn't let the world and every horrid thing it had to offer put her down. She had always told her that she had to remain as strong as she was made. No matter what. Because the stronger she became, the harder it was for her to be pushed down.

At least that's what she used to say.

It was two weeks after Bradley and his family had left, her mother had to go on a business trip to somewhere in Panama. Just a short business trip that would only take five to six days depending on the rate of competency she would be working with, and then she'd come back with something for Melissa. Something to make her feel better. She had never told her what the 'surprise' was, what it could do or given any hint. She had just left with a smile as she boarded the plane as her and her dad waved through the windows while it took flight.

A week passed.

She never came.

Melissa was confused at first. Her mother had been calling nearly two times a day within the supposed five to six days she was gone, her tone happy and delighted and warm. And safe. Her mother always called to ask how she was doing, then ask about school and her day before jumping right into how her investigation was going.

Melissa never understood the logic or details behind the whole shindig, her mom never detailed her investigations. They were meant to be only dislodged to her team and them alone. Not that she minded. Her conversations with her dad though, were way more detailed, longer. She was sure it was because he understood what she was actually saying and not mistaking 'who' for 'whom'. But it was definitely something else.

Whenever she waltzed into a room during one of their calls, the gist would die down to low voices trying not to talk too loudly but at the same time not quite whispering. She decided against not looking too much into it, her inquisitive nature to know would have to wait till the molehill became a mountain.

But she had found out too late.

Now her mom may never come back again.

The news was devastating.

Her dad wanted to know if she wanted to find out how, when, if. How it happened. When it did. If it was for good. But she said no. Not now.

Melissa didn't need to know what she saw as something that could break her. Rip out that strength her parents had been building in her since she learned to walk and speak and understand. She almost laughed once the realization struck her. Her inquisitive nature to know was gone for the time being. Maybe not completely gone, but still residing in her, fading out to give space for the will to be strong.

At least for that time.

Ignoring everyone but her dad was her next, closest option. It wasn't a good option. She knew. But it was what she had that she would cling to. Bradley's friend problems could wait, sleep could wait. Everything else had to wait.

All she needed right then was her strength and her dad. And she grasped onto those like, - _no -because_ they were her lifelines, the only things that didn't remind her that life was unfair. Life was always unfair, but she wasn't going to wallow about it. She had to live, because that's what she did. She  _lived._

The decision to move to Swamp city to start out with a new life and environment was made nearly six months later.

It wasn't going to be that bad. New house, new neighbors, new classmates, new experiences. And her dad still had to keep his awesome job as a firefighter while she went school searching. Finding the perfect school was basically the hardest and most impossible thing in the world, so she went with the one of the quirkiest, most oddly _interesting_ school's she had visited. Named after one of her favorite museums in Danville. Jefferson County.

It wasn't bad or horrible in the sense. Not dirty, not smelly or weird. Though she wasn't really sure why she was expecting that from the school, however it was okay. And her guts were just practically  _pushing_ her to go there. She did. Fortunately for her.

Not even a full day into her morning and she ran into a kid on a llama. Which was right in front of a herd, flock, cattle, pride of a freaking  _zoo animal stampede._

Melissa did everything within her power to avoid impending doom, but somehow fate was a fat weird douche. Somehow, she got hoisted up by the boy on the llama right before a gorilla stomped past where she was meant to have been pummeled. Somehow the boy saved her.

Somehow, Melissa Chase suddenly saw that he was cool. And she'd never seen anyone who rocked a pink sweater vest like he did.

He'd said his name was Milo Murphy. And she said her name was. . .

  _Nope. Never mind._ The llama had rushed out of her view in lightning speed before she could catch her breath to speak, carrying Milo along with it as it ran after a runaway pistachio cart. Melissa only shook her head with a smile and carried on with her Saturday walk until she got home, saying hi to her dad and grabbing trail mix from the fridge so casually like the whole episode hadn't happened. She felt a little wave of exasperation pass through her. She felt the need to feel exhilarated, a distraction from her usual mornings on repeat. Though she was secretly hoping that she'd get to see him, Milo, again.

Something told her she'd be seeing him more than she knew.

Her first day of school started with being chased by a runaway boulder that conveniently got loose from the construction site she'd been staring at since morning. Melissa felt that exhilaration she'd been craving for a while since that zoo animal fiasco. Though she didn't deny the fact that being chased by a boulder ten times your size and a thousand times your weight was hella  _scary_  she still felt safe-ish that Milo wasn't panicking as much as she was. At least, he didn't  _look_  like he was panicking.

It's not like being almost shocked out of your skin by the pending doom of a boulder about to crush your bones, running about what feels like two miles around the city, getting hitched by a flood of water from the lake only to end up somewhere in the delta connection joining two seas surrounding Danville, noticing that you're late for class-

_Where was she going with this again?_

Oh yeah. In retrospect, as scary as the whole occurrence of events was, she'd never felt so _alive_  before. So open, less invulnerable. Like she could jump off a precipice and never have to worry about going _splat_  on the ground because she'd end up back where she found herself. And everything worked out great in the end as well. Not only had she gained a new view on life, she'd also gotten herself a new friend.

Who weirdly, conveniently went to the same school as she. Not that she minded. The two seemed like they needed each other more than she thought. They were a good team, and Melissa adored his toughness like he adored her devoted friendship. She wanted to leave it at that, but then there was that tugging in her chest that urged her, prompted her not to forget she had another who may need her as well. In fact, may have needed her for a long time.

Melissa had called, texted, emailed. Even tried visiting him at home once.

She was told she didn't want to be seen.

But of course she believed the lies were a load of bull because his parents were major cow butts. So she went for waiting it out.

Apparently two weeks were too long of a wait. She hadn't seen his face anywhere in the town. Not at any park, or school, or stores. Social media accounts were blocked. And after using every hour for four consecutive days to try calling him, her number was also blocked. It's like she couldn't reach him, and it made her more upset than she thought she'd be.

Milo had told her not to worry. He was going to turn up soon. He promised her he would, and she believed him.

Turns out Milo was right the next day.

After Melissa had hitchhiked a ride on a bull to school after getting themselves in a ranch at the countryside, all the students that had arrived by bus five minutes before the bell gathered in an awaiting audience for a story. People were asking her and Milo what had happened, How was it riding on a bull and other ridiculous chatter.

Melissa felt like she was one of those celebrities being hounded by the press, someone even had a pen pointed to her in a reporter-holding-a-mike sort of fashion. And Melissa answered the only way that could have better described her early morning adventure.

"It was awesome!!!"

At that point, Milo was saying something during the summation of the previous episode while Melissa thought of sitting down and getting some good rest before classes commenced. Riding on a bull was hard as heck. Especially when it was bent on disembodying everything and everyone it saw and you just had to control it so they wouldn't file a police report.

Melissa was about to sift her way through the small crowd of students to a less dense area. Hearing her name being called by the last person she thought she would see today and the first person she'd ever been as happy to see.

It was like the chatter fell to background noise as she found herself squeezing her best friend in a spine breaking hug.

"Omigosh. OMG. what are you doing here?" Bradley dislodged himself from the hug in favor of looking her in the face, as if to assure himself that she was actually there.

Melissa was doing the same, albeit with less shock than he probably was in. Finding her best friend in her new school on an almost unlikely day was the last thing she expected, although dealing with the unexpected was what she had been doing in the past weeks so not much of a surprise there.

But speaking for herself.

Bradley looked surprised for sure, but more happy than that, as if he'd been dreaming of a moment like this and had finally seen it come true. His eyes were dancing and he was beaming so much those whites were definitely going to blind her and she was sure he wanted to cry, but she didn't want to point that out. At least not now.

Now she wanted to catch up. Ask him how he'd been doing, how his social life and life in general was going, why he hadn't picked up any of her calls or replied to her texts weeks ago, many other conversations she needed to pick up with him. And she did.

He explained almost everything.  _Almost._ She listened as he put everything in a weird summation of the past months, saying a lot about one story then say a few of the next. She couldn't tell if he was leaving out some things, but she knew when he was lying, because he was her best friend and the  _worst_ liar.

However, she couldn't call him out on it because Milo had unknowingly interceded their conversation and she had to explain to him how they knew each other and Bradley had to explain to her why he had left out the part about he and Milo being friends. They couldn't have the conversation in front of Milo, clearly.

He also had to explain why he left out the part about his brother dropping in from nowhere and also the other part about skipping school for two weeks and every other thing he must have left out because she was not letting him get away so easily. At least not without giving her all the details.

She watched him squirm under her knowing glare even as the teacher had come in and classes had officially started. Even as the day went on and she was so not letting this slide. Because they both knew the status quo.

Melissa was leaving no stones unturned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. I know it's been a while and I'm so sorry because life is a freaking douchebag and I couldn't update because of . . . reasons.
> 
> Anyway, I want you to know that I'm not planning to discontinue this for anything and updates may be coming at wonky time intervals because I'm too busy to work out a schedule.
> 
> Anywho, stay tuned for more chaps guys! l8r!


	5. We Talk and That's All We Do

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Melissa and Bradley meet up for a little talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Felis Navidad eve to everyone! Sorry this came in late, I had a problem with my laptop weeks back but it's okay now! I've decided to start posting my chapters every second Saturday (Or I'll try to). As you all should know I'm still in high school and might not be so constant when school resumes, but anywho... Happy Holidays everyone!!!

The walk back home was brisk, feeling windy at a point; leaves fluttering around in circular, wavy patterns, the sun was still out as it was late in the afternoon and the vista of pedestrians and children alike milling the sidewalks –either walking home as well or heading to a regular hangout for an after-school get together –set the scene for a normal day for just about any regular kid after the day’s work at four cornered walls filled with children, and a qualified adult who couldn’t wait to get back to watching that series that couldn’t leave their mind even if they wanted to.

But in any case, Bradley couldn’t bring himself to care. The background of the wind and the leaves and the people faded into nothing, the only thing that he didn’t think he would be thinking about at that time of the day was exactly what he was thinking about. And he couldn’t get it out of his head. It’s like whenever he tried to throw it out of mindscape so he could get a moments peace, he misses, and the thought ends up bouncing against his brain walls, the sounds echoing inside of his mind until all he wants to do is crawl under a rock and hope the thought and the origination of said thought fades away till it didn’t even reside in the deepest notches of his brain.

However, on the other side of things, it’s all he wants to think about. It may drive him crazy at a point in his life, but for now it was the only thing that he thinks might keep him sane. And that, for now, was good enough.

He didn’t remember opening the door to the house, or remember climbing the flight of stairs, or remember approaching his room door and opening it; but as soon as he let himself fall, face first onto the bed, the groan he let out –which was probably louder than he meant it to be –brought all his woes and delights to remembrance. And those were only the ones of the day.

Till then he still couldn’t believe it.

There was no way he could.  
That his best friend from months ago, the only one in his life that had made him nothing but happy, was here. In Swamp City. And she was going to his school. And they were in the same class.

To be honest, the whole thing still felt a bit surreal to him. So much so that he’d pinched himself so many times when no one was looking and had taken several excuses to the bathroom to look himself in the mirror just so he could convince his subconscious that he hadn’t fallen asleep and had that exact recurring dream of him and Melissa finding each other again for the sixth time.

He was able to for the first five periods at least. But during the break before the sixth, when she’d pulled him aside to have a ‘quick talk’ with him, the whole thing was looking real again, but only for that moment.

They had been on their way back to home room for History class with Miss Bellbee, and Bradley was walking alone, still trying to avoid Milo and his weird ability to jinx everything he touches. Same Milo who was buddying up with Melissa all of a sudden (like what was up with that?) and forgetting that she was his friend first. Melissa seemed to have noticed his uncertainty and distance, or at least that’s what he thought, and told him to meet up with her after school.

And Bradley did.

It had only been for a little while though, Melissa and him meeting up in front of the school, him preparing to walk her home since her house was closer than his, and all of a sudden, a crane hook from nowhere picks her up and hauls her out of his sight.

It was a surprising occurrence. You don’t just expect a crane hook to carry your best friend away right as they were about to talk to you. No one should expect that even.

Except you were Milo Murphy of course, because stuff like that just happen every day for the sake of it, and _no of course not_ , just forget that the people who really want to live their lives like normal, sane civilians get affected by you and go on your way because you just don’t give a damn about it. Living in your on happy little world in your happy little zone and forget the people that are influenced by the things you do, or don’t do, depending on you.

Harboring thoughts like these weren’t good for his mental well-being sure, but Melissa could have died just from hanging up from a height like that, and he couldn’t help himself. He was just glad that Milo was able to save her from his mess, or else who knows what would have happened?

He turned around on his bed to face the ceiling, eyes set on the stickers that were made to resemble the stars of the night but mind set somewhere else. He wondered if Melissa wasn’t as traumatized as he thought, enough for the both of them to talk at least. If not in person, then at least they can call or video chat using their cells.

Bradley’s eyes trailed over to the phone lying screen up by his bedside table. No, maybe not a video chat or a call, because who knows what kind of turmoil she was going through, if he himself was going through such unrest from having just seen her about to fall _splat_ to the ground.

And he also really wanted to know what Melissa wanted to talk to him about.

Maybe some other form of communication was in order, something of a subtle approach but able to yield the same result he was going for. He picked up the phone.

  
**Brad:** Hey Mel.

  
He waited for a while, seeing if the reply would come sooner than later and when it didn’t, he sent another several ones.

  
**Brad** : Mel.  
**Brad** : Meeeeeeeeeeel.  
**Brad** : Meeeelllisssaaaaaaaa.  
**Brad** : Melissa I neeeed you.  
**Brad** : Really really bad.  
**Brad** : Meeeelllliiiiiissssssaaaaaaaa  
**Mel** : Wth Brad.  
**Mel** : Needy much?

  
The grin that cracked at his face was so giddily wide that it might’ve ended up splitting his cheeks. But he didn’t bring himself to care as much as he was supposed to. Because Melissa had texted back! He paid the screen of his phone much attention as he waited for the next reply from her, thumbs ready to tap away at the keyboard for a quick reply. The next text came soon enough.

  
**Mel** : Anything I can help you with Oh Needy One.  
**Brad** : Nothing really.  
**Brad** : Just wanted to know how you are  
**Brad** : Any broken bones  
**Brad** : Broken organs  
**Brad** : Broken . . . sanity? You get the point right?  
**Mel** : How I wish I did.  
**Mel** : So what’s up with you?  
**Mel** : Sorry we weren’t able to talk today. You know…  
**Mel** : Murphy’s Law and all that junk!

  
O…kay. So it looks like she’s doing okay, or maybe it seems that way. Sometimes he forgot how strong willed his best friend actually was. It was amazing most of the time, really. But right now? It was annoying the heck out of him and he was doing all he could to restrain himself from being overly direct with what he actually wanted to say. Or text. How was he supposed to know how she was doing when she was barely showing him any hints of her distress?

  
**Brad** : …Right.  
**Brad** : Totally get it. So how are you? Really.  
**Mel** : I’m fine.  
**Brad** : You sure?  
**Mel** : Yes you Worrywart. Nothing happened, I’m _okay._  
**Brad** : I mean, you were hanging thousands feet up from the sky and all …  
**Mel** : Milo saved me before anything _could_ happen.  
**Mel** : And in case you ask, yes it was scary for a bit but all’s good and done.  
**Mel** : No need to worry about it anymore  
**Mel** : Now, about that talk  
**Mel** : It’s still an hour and thirty minutes till dinner time, wanna meet up at the park?

Bradley’s brows scrunched up for a bit, his will not intent on dropping the matter yet, looking for ways to push the topic into limelight.

  
**Brad** : Okay.  
**Brad** : But I have something I need to discuss too  
**Mel** : Oh? Like what?  
**Brad** : We’ll talk when we get to the park.  
**Brad** : See ya there!

And with that he set off from his bed and out the room. His parents weren’t at home yet, what with his dad at a meeting somewhere in Canada and his mom was out doing only heaven knows what with her circle of social elites. And Braydon had already left to the prison his father had enrolled him in, so that left him alone with his childhood nanny.  
He came across her on his way out. She, Loretta, was busy dusting the furniture, although he was sure she’d already done that before he went to school earlier that morning. 

“May I ask where you’re going?”

He was stopped in his tracks by the question.

“Me? Nothing important.” He shrugged nonchalantly, succeeding in hiding how much more important it was than he was making it sound. “Just meeting with a friend at the park.”

Loretta was always a kind, dulcet lady, but he’d learned not to ignore those no nonsense eyes that she seemed to be pointing at him now. “Okay.” She continued dusting the furniture. “You go have fun. Although your mother is coming back soon, so I suggest you hurry back before dinner.” Loretta dropped the feather duster and started rearranging the books on the shelf by the dining table. “We both know your parents haven’t yet approved of you going out with your friends, but just this once.”  
Bradley couldn’t help the gratuitous smile that he directed at her. “Thanks Nana.”

“Anytime, sweetie.”

MML~MML~MML

Melissa had only being in the park for fifteen minutes when she saw her childhood best friend run up towards her, his cheeks flushed like he’d been running till he’d gotten there.

When he finally approached, she let him take some deep breaths so he wouldn’t end up falling on his face from asphyxiation, after which he’d sat on the bench nearby, letting Melissa do the same before she actually began to talk.

“Did you run all the way here?” 

He inhaled some and then turned to look at her. “What do you think?”

She thought he looked ridiculously funny with his bangs sticking to all the parts of his forehead and still flushed face and his misplaced glasses which he shouldn’t be wearing upside down. But she wasn’t going to point that out now. She quickly brought out her phone and took a quick picture before he could protest.

“What the heck Melissa! Did you just take a photo?”

“Nope, I took a photo _of you_.” A teasing smirk played at her lips, widening more so when Bradley attempted snatching it from her.

“Same thing! What do you want to do with that?”

“You’ll see.” She brought her phone down when he stopped trying to fight her for it and caught a glimpse of her home screen. The wall paper set was the one the both of them had taken before he left for Swamp City, the one she had framed. She felt a twinge of something, melancholic amusement for a moment, feelings suddenly changing when the wallpaper changed to the horrendous picture of him in his equally horrendous state.

Melissa said nothing and only laughed at his indignant expression, indicating his displeasure even more with a groan and a glare filled with anything but hatred at what she did. He was about to say something, but Melissa silenced him with a finger to the lips and her giggles which had died down to a breath.

“I look horrible in that!” He’d swiped her hand away, pouting when her expression refused to change. “You gotta get rid of it.”

“Mmmmm …” She pretended like she was thinking then threw a “nope!” at him.

“Oh come on, what if I say please.”

“What if you do?”

“Okay. Please Melissa?”

“Gotta be more convincing than that buddy.” Melissa entered into deep thought, trying to dig up something from her brain that’ll make it even more hilarious. Her smile widened more than it was when she threw him a knowing look. The way his eyes broadened only confirmed that he knew exactly what she was going to ask. “You gotta do the weird alien voice.”

“What?!” His voice went eight octaves higher than normal. “No way. That was five years ago there is absolutely no way in heck I’m doing that ever again.”

“Oh come on. I think it was adorable-ish!”

“That was during the school’s Halloween play and I’ve never felt more embarrassed in my life now that I look back at it.” He looked like he shuddered.

“Oh then, I guess I’m keeping this.” She wave the phone in front of his face that showed the pic. “Since you _obviously_ don’t want it gone or care that I might accidentally post it on my blog or by chance I’m showing one of my friends a cool video and they happen to see your face or—“

“Fine fine I’ll do it!” He groaned into his hands, taking a moment before turning to her with crossed dilated pupils and a somehow blank expression on his face. He positioned his hand such that he fisted it against his mouth and stuck his pinky up “ _Greetings earth dwelle_ r …” His voice turned over nasally and very high pitched and Melissa could do nothing to suppress the amused laughter that escaped her lips. “… _I come in peace. I implore you, oh great Earth ambassador, to please, oh please obliterate mortifying_ _evidence of I appearing like the absolute imitation of …as you earthlings call it: ‘a smoked cracked mad whack_ ’. 

Bradley let out a huge breath, like it had taken him that much energy, the sound of it mixing with her laughter and snorts. “You happy now?!” She was sure he meant it to sound angry, but by the way his cheeks were red and his lips could no longer fight the growing smile, Melissa knew he meant otherwise.

“Yes. _Very_.” Her laughter died down and she got to deleting it from her phone. “There, deleted.” 

“Good.” He sighed contentedly, not noticing the evil amusement she held in her eyes.

“I miss the photo already.” She pouted in mock sadness and Bradley merely scoffed playfully. 

“Well that’s too bad.” He had already cleaned up and put his glasses in order, although his hair wasn’t as neat if he didn’t use a hair comb. “You’re not getting another one.”

“I know.” Another smile of many lighted up her face. “But at least I got this new ringtone.” She played a voice recording. His surprised and unamused look just added to the list of the many things that made her day as the weird alien speech he’d just given seconds ago played from her phone.

However, he didn’t even try to fight her this time and hung his head in quick defeat, muttering something like _what am I going to do with you_ and then finally looking back up and facing her with a smile in his eyes. “You’re the worst.”

“I know.” She bopped his forehead. “But you love me.” 

“No denying that.” He said, and for a moment the two friends let silence linger as the breeze blew and passed at them like an unseeable vessel trying to fill in the wordless void.  
Bradley was the first to start up the conversation. The _real_ conversation.

MML~MML~MML

“So … what exactly are you… are we… talking about?”

“Huh? What?” Melissa looked like she wasn’t paying attention for a second there, like her mind was elsewhere and she’d forgotten why she’d called him here in the first place. Although something must have clicked because soon she appeared to be in the present. “Oh. Right, that.” Her expression turned downright serious at that. 

“Look Brad, before we start…” Melissa’s voice took a soft turn, considering her choice of words. “I didn’t want to be too direct in this but I … I missed you.” Her hug took him by surprise, but he wasn’t exactly startled or stupefied that she did. His hands involuntarily moved to hug her back. “I missed you so much I didn’t realize it until I saw you this morning.”

“Aw… Mel…” He wasn’t exactly the greatest at words but he knew what he had to say. They separated, and he smiled softly at her. “I missed you too.” She’d directed her smile back at him and then she turned away to look at a very interesting spot on a tree. The wind blew again, colder than the last one but he suppressed his shiver.

“Melissa, is that all you wanted to say?”

She shook her head and averted her gaze to him. “Well, sort of. I was gonna say more.”

He waited for her to go on.

“I’m not sure if I’m ready to talk about my side of things, but… I’m worried. There are a lot of unanswered questions and, _well_ ,” She put her hand on his, which had been placed between the two of them. “I need to know how you’ve been doing.” Melissa’s tone was urgent. But yet calm at the same time. “ _What_ you’ve been doing. _What_ happened while you were here and I wasn’t.”

“Melissa…”

“It’s okay if you’re not ready to talk about it, but I’m your best friend. I want to –have to know. I’ve just been so worried. I don’t want us to stop trusting each other, so please –“  
“Melissa it’s okay.” He squeezed her hand reassuringly. He didn’t like seeing her worried like this. Where was that girl who had been laughing and teasing and taking embarrassing photos of him just minutes ago? “I’ll tell you … everything.”

  
And tell her everything he did.

Down from the first day he’d arrived at Swamp City, to the moment before he saw Melissa that very day. And he made sure to leave no details out. He told her about meeting Milo, told her about Braydon and about what his father had done, about how they’d locked him in the house for weeks, about how Nora had to beg his parents to at least let him go to school for the time being. How she’d almost lost her job because of him.

And Melissa listened to everything. Not even cutting him short to comment or vent, although there were times she replied, but not with words. A gentle squeeze to the hand or a shake/nod of the head. Small signs of comfort that told him she was there and her shoulder was there as well for him to lean on. Although there were times she nearly voiced her opinions. The gentle but sad “Oh…” when he’d told her about the time he’d been trying to call her for weeks but didn’t reply. The disgruntled but near silent hums whenever he told her about how he felt towards Milo. Although he might not have gotten why her reaction was so. He’d already explained to her their ‘friendship’ was out of mere necessity than anything else, so he wasn’t sure if he should’ve just kept that tidbit to himself. Maybe he should’ve, but he’d already promised not to leave out anything.

By the time he was done, he felt refreshed and like a burden had been lifted from his shoulders. Talking to someone –especially someone who would understand –about your problems should be some kind of legal medicine. The two fell silent again, relishing in the comfort of each other’s presence, a moment like this that needed no words. A chill rushed through him suddenly. But it wasn’t from the breeze that was blowing colder air now. 

It was the kind of chill you got when you had that feeling of someone watching you, or the feeling that your missing or forgetting something important, or the feeling that something bad was about to happen and your heart wouldn’t stop thumping in your ears. He ignored it however. It was normal for him to feel paranoia once in a while. The family doctor had confirmed that, so he locked away in a dark room the little man in his brain that was yelling at him to be on high freaking alert and should try and remember something other than Melissa that he wasn’t supposed to forget.

Biggest mistake.

Bradley’s phone vibrated rapidly where he kept it in his pocket. Melissa had stopped what she was saying about baby raccoons to garner her attention towards the vibrating phone which he had already picked up. It was Loretta.

“Loretta? What is it?”

“It’s… it’s…” The lady was sniffling and crying. Did something bad happen? A major accident? He hoped it was neither of the two. He let her continue. “I’m so sorry.” She truly sounded so. “You should come home… right now…”

“Right now?” He checked the time. “But my mom’s not going to be back until an hour’s time.” 

“That… is true… But, come home… just do.” He was really worried now. What was making her cry like this? “I’m really sorry dear… … I’m so sorry I truly am…!” And after that the call was cut and Melissa must’ve noticed the worried creases of his brow because she was soon putting an arm on his shoulder.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s Loretta.” He said, frantic. Bradley got up, Melissa doing the same but trying to keep up with how fast he was hurrying.

“Your nana Loretta?”

“Yes. Something’s wrong. I have to go home –ah!” He nearly fell on his backside upon bumping into someone. The boy had blonde hair and looked eerily familiar but he couldn’t place his finger on it. Though, he couldn’t bring himself to care at the moment. 

The blonde apologized and went on his way.

Bradley went on his way as well, albeit a lot faster since he really had some really important things to attend to that he just couldn’t wait for. He was stopped however for a second by a hand that had reached out to grab at his wrist.

“Be careful, okay?” Melissa’s eyes shone with worry and concern and he sent a smile her way. And she calls him the worrywart.

“Don’t worry Mel, I always will be.”


	6. When he Saw the Writing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Braydon, while at the academy receives a haunting letter from his past that threatens his family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry for the wait. I had lost inspiration a while back, and wasn't sure whether I was gonna get it back, but now it's here again! Chapter 7 is almost ready and will soon be up. Enjoy!

The window overlooking the grassy fields of the outside compound fogged over, cool morning mist from the surrounding ocean acting as its own barrier to remind Braydon that he was trapped there, and there wasn’t anything he could do about it, even if he tried. And trust me, _he had_.

It happened a few days ago.

The academy had a helicopter for transportation and the likes, usually of old recruits when in need of a quick pick up. Supplies and new cadets came in ships, ferries. Most of them brought supplies for basic necessities. Some transported classified equipment which was only made informed to the Commander.

The supply ship had an accident at night miles before they were able to reach the island, some part of the deck broke off, causing it to sink, along with the supplies and the passengers aboard the ship. Luckily there were only a few crew members, with just ten boarders and two people manning the boat, and with the amount of helicopters they had stationed at the academy, they didn’t have a problem with staging a rescue mission.

But more importantly, he didn’t have a problem snagging one of them and attempting a get away from the island. The pilots were so distracted and the Commander was busy supervising the people’s progress on the boat, the supplies which were super important, that they failed to notice one of their cadets making an escape using their very own chopper.

It all went downhill as soon as it had started.

He was caught, and by one of the senior officers too. He was making rounds around the dorms, and apparently, it had been lights out an hour before. An hour before, he wasn’t supposed to be out, sneaking around, creeping into the night and stealing property that he was unauthorized to even touch.

As predicted, reporting to the Commander was what resulted in immediate one week solitary confinement.

Well, at least they gave him a window to look out of. The glass was permanently sealed, but he could see the outside at least, and there was a ceiling fan. Like his own luxury jail cell.

The click coming from the other side of the door distracted him from the pointless staring at the outside. He averted his attention, making sure he was on guard for whatever awaited him beyond the door. Feet steady on the floor, and hands fisted, hard eyes pointed to the figure emerging through the entryway. It was only one of the guards.

“Cadet Nicholson, you are to report to the Commander’s office.” Braydon’s brows scrunched up intuitively, knowing what may occur was anything but good and not liking one bit of it. “Now.”

* * *

 

“Take a seat Cadet.” Commander Harris ordered, back ramrod against his own seat on the opposite side of the table, and hands positioned palm down on the wooden surface of the desk. Braydon wasn’t usually frightened by anything on a normal basis, especially not of people. The commander was no exception to this rule however, but he didn’t like the situation in the least.

He had only been dumped into the military academy for three weeks plus, and he had only seen one incident where a cadet was sent to a meeting with the Commander. He never heard a word from him again. And that’s not implying he was possibly dead though—just that Connor couldn’t speak again, even though his vocal cords were fine and his throat checked out like seventeen times. He just never wanted to talk after that, like if he did his insides would implode or something.

Braydon didn’t really want to find out why that happened.

He cautiously took a seat, eyes taking in as much of the office as it could in two seconds. It was nothing much though, with only some paintings of nationally famous heroes and events, air conditioner, windows, water dispenser and of course a ridiculously big desk filled with organized binders, a coffee mug and a framed photo of a dark skinned lady, a young looking teenager bearing the same complexion as the woman and a younger looking boy grinning ear to ear and showing off his missing tooth. That was most likely his family.

The two seconds must have turned out longer than intended, because Commander Harris, to his own obliviousness, was not happy with his lack of attention. “Eyes over here Cadet.”

His gaze shifted from the photo to the hard eyes of his commanding officer, muttering a small ineffective ‘sorry’ and keeping his attentiveness on the matter at hand.

“I believe you are aware of why I’ve called you here cadet?”

_‘Hmm, I dunno… was I caught taking a piece of the gingerbread house again?’_ “Because I was caught in the act of stealing compound property sir.” Or maybe it was because he had injured the guy he had pushed out of the helicopter more than he thought. He kept that thought to himself. That was probably not it.

“No.”

“Is it because—“

“I didn’t ask for more opinions Nicholson.” He raised a palm up in a halt gesture; his face was drawn up into a mild scowl. “You just got here, and you’re already giving us problems. And the helicopter incident isn’t the first.”

His brows shot up, in astonishment that it took them that long to figure out he was the one that had overrode the security cam systems so he could sneak around at night. Although, his other feats were still rather noticeable. Snapping at senior officers and flipping off the professors whenever he was berated, not to mention he was usually interrupting important classes, lectures and training to say very true but very crude comments about the schools system. It didn’t help that the other new recruits cheered him on and fanned his flames, even though they knew he was so going to get into huge trouble for it.

A smile crept upon his face at the memory of when he had messed with the projector during history lectures. Mr. Doyle was explaining something about WWII in Dunkirk, and the screen had immediately blanked out, leaving everyone but him in a state of confusion. When the thing had returned to life, an hour long video of vine clips turned history class into a laughing session. It had taken Mr. Doyle only thirty minutes to run mad when he could do nothing to shut down the system or quiet down the laughter.

Commander Harris didn’t look very pleased.

His smile dropped.

“I received a complaint from a very important person few days back when he heard of your little refractory sprees.”

_Okay._ That didn’t really matter if he didn’t know who the person was. He wasn’t there to please anyone. Heck, he wasn’t even there willingly.

“It’s your father.”

Braydon would have done a spit take at hearing that had he been drinking something. He knew what he was doing was causing problems with him and the academy, but he didn’t think his dad would have actually cared. After all, the whole point was to get him as far away from his brother as possible right?

“My father?”

“I know what you’re trying to do Nicholson. And more importantly, he knows.” Commander Harris’ fingers tapped against the table impatient and annoyed, the continuous sounds picking up pace with each breath. “You’re not getting kicked out of here Cadet.”

He blinked at this, rather slowly. “I’m not?”

“Believe me; I’ve tried to get you out of here so many times.” He rubbed his hand against his forehead like he was getting a headache. “But there are way too many contract papers and government law enforcement policies riding on this. Not to mention the academies reputation.”

Huh, trust his dad to do everything in his power to keep his children apart. His reaction to this was nothing but a slight frown and silence, letting him go on to see if he would say other interesting things.

He did, surprisingly so.

“But then, there’s also this.” The Commander sighed, and reached into his open desk drawer to get out a neatly folded envelope, thick and obviously full of some important document he was supposed to find significant in some form or the other. “Your father gave me this, two days ago.” He reached out for it anyway, as it was being handed to him, and had to stifle a very loud gasp that threatened to escape his lips upon seeing the red seal that kept the envelope clinched.

If Commander Harris had noticed any semblance of shock appearing on his features, he said nothing and only watched with the observant eyes of a hawk while Braydon struggled with the option of opening it or not.

He decided the former option seemed more viable at the moment. He was always a curious boy after all.

So, with the speed of a dying snail, he drew out the paper slowly, if only to protract the oncoming drama. He ended up scuffing that idea out when he saw the somewhat annoyed lines drawn in clear detail atop the Commander’s forehead.

As suspected, it was a well folded hand written letter, an eloquent cursive calligraphy that one would have mistook for a printed format using only computer designed font if the person weren’t Braydon Nicholson. The beginning of the letter was a: _My dearest Braydon…_ But he couldn’t bring himself to read the actual body of the letter, knowing very well he might not like what he saw. He continued anyway upon getting a silent message from the Commander to go on. Nervously, he unfolded the rest of the paper and read silently.

_… It’s been so long since I’ve seen you my love, and daddy’s been so mad, especially since you ran away from us._   
_He knows that you faked your own identity, and he’s been searching for you. But don’t worry, I won’t tell him that I know who you are, not yet darling._

He had been expecting that he would be looking for him, but that was over a year ago. He scanned the page and found the date was of the exact day the letter had been written. July 18th. That was two weeks ago.

_My daddy might give up if he doesn’t find you, but he’s an old man. He would die soon, and very sooner than he thinks. That’s where I come in._   
_You see, I still know who you are Braydon, but apparently finding that you had given me the wrong home address made me so, so mad my love. But don’t worry, the young couple that was living there have been taken care of……_   
_You however, I’m going to find you. I already have a plan, and once this letter is in your hands, I’d have already known where you are. And you’d already be mine._

He didn’t know he had been gripping the note as hard as he was until he noticed the crinkling and the rough creases spoiling the smooth freshness of the paper in his hands. He set it down, failing to notice the hard stare Commander Harris was giving him had dropped to something less intimidating, and only continued to glare at space. If he didn’t have a good enough drive to take him back home now, there was definitely one now.

And if the Commander wasn’t going to let him out now, he would walk out by himself. Or swim out if he had to. The letter was written to an address weeks ago, which meant they had already gotten to his home already and done heaven knows what. They could have hurt his family by then, his brother. What was he going to do if they hurt him? Probably go after them and murder the owner of the finger that dared to.

“Cadet Nicholson.” The Commander vied for his attention amidst his scattered, rambling, angry thoughts and managed to grasp onto it with that ever persistent, ever demanding voice. He gulped and listened, trying to hold back the glare he longed to throw the man’s way.

Once Commander Harris saw that he had him, he continued.

“I understand that you’re going through all kinds of distress right now,” So he had read the letter? He didn’t know, but he didn’t like it either. Like he was invading his privacy. Rude.

Though he had not directly implied that he had, so maybe not? Ugh, his head was a mess.

“But I still cannot let you leave, nor am I going to let you out of confinement yet. Jerry’s still recovering from the broken arm you gave him when you pushed him out of that helicopter.” His voice was getting back to the aggravated annoyed tone it had possessed earlier. “But I can reduce the number of days you get to stay. And your father has permitted you to use your phone to get in contact with the house, just so you could be in touch for a few days.”

Braydon’s eyes lit up. He was going to be able to speak with Bradley again? Best news of the day so far.

“But only for a few hours a week.” Was added as if only to plunge down his excitement. He didn’t let it show that it actually worked though.

He was sent out of his office immediately he was dismissed, but not before being handed his phone to take with him. He would only have it for a few minutes or hours, but he didn’t care. He just needed to call home, see if his brother and his parents were alright. Yeah his dad’s a douche, but he still cared about him in some sense. He was his dad after all.

He ignored the locks from the door that came from behind him on routine as he had entered his temporary school prison, sitting atop the hard bed and holding up the phone to his face while it booted on.

He felt he couldn’t get his fingers to work fast enough as he typed in the numbers to his brothers phone, praying to everything that he would pick up the first call and not cause him more fear and worry that he was feeling at the moment.

The phone got picked on first ring, fortunately.

However, the person that answered wasn’t Bradley.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... ... cliffie! That'll keep ya'll up and thinking wouldn't it? Stay tuned for more chapters!


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